Perfect Encounter - Chapter 19.1
PROOFREAD BY AFREANA
Chapter 19.1
When the nanny opened the lock and came in again in the afternoon to change her medicine, she asked lightly, “What time is it?”
“It’s the time of Shen.” The nanny replied.
At this time, a little maid ran in panting and shouted, “Miss, has Fourth Miss come to see you?”
An Ruochen’s heart was beating wildly, but her tone remained calm: “No. I have been sleeping. The doors and windows are locked. How could she have come to me? What happened?”
“The people in the courtyard of Fourth Miss said she wanted to rest and went inside to sleep. The maids were all doing work in the outer room and then went to rest as well. No one paid attention when Fourth Miss left the room. Now she disappeared, and everyone is looking everywhere. I was afraid Fourth Miss was worried about your injury, so I was sent to ask if Fourth Miss had come.”
An Ruochen’s heart rejoiced. The fourth sister had escaped, really escaped.
“She never came.” She replied.
The maid heard this and ran away in a hurry.
Not long after, An Ruochen’s room was bustling with activity. Mrs. Tan, Mrs. Duan, the nanny, the maids, even An Ping came
One by one, they all came to ask her about An Ruofang’s whereabouts. An Ruochen flatly asserted she did not know.
“I was in pain and could only lie down. The doors and windows are locked. I did not go out. How could I know the whereabouts of Fang’er? She may be hiding somewhere like last time, look for her again, and you will find her.”
The whole residence was searched, but no one found her. Everyone went back to An Ruochen’s room to ask questions.
An Zhifu and An Ronggui received the news and hurried back home. An Zhifu listened to An Ping’s report of the incident, furious, and went to An Ruochen’s room, turning her courtyard upside down.
An Ruochen kept kneeling in the room despite her injuries and still had only these words – she didn’t know! How could she possibly know?
An Zhifu ordered people to go out of the residence and search the whole city. At this time, Mrs. Tan found that the window paper in An Ruochen’s room was broken and summoned an old maid to ask about it. The woman trembled and said the window of the eldest miss’ room had always been in good condition and had no holes.
Mrs. Tan sneered: “The window paper has been poked by someone. The eldest miss is seriously injured, she couldn’t have climbed down and poked the window paper by herself, right?”
An Ruochen agreed: “It is indeed impossible.”
An Zhifu on the other side understood the meaning of Mrs. Tan’s words and shouted angrily: “Fang’er came to you, did she or didn’t she? What did she say to you, and what did you say to her? Where is she now?”
An Ruochen looked at her father calmly and answered once again. The fourth sister had not come, and she didn’t know anything.
An Zhifu stared at her fiercely.
At night, the servants and guards who went out to look returned back to report the fourth miss was not found. An Zhifu roared and told them to keep looking. Then he brought the whip and beat An Ruochen again.
An Ruochen was beaten even worse than last time. She was dying, but still only stubbornly said, “I don’t know.”
An Zhifu had no evidence, but in his heart, he was suspicious of his eldest daughter. It could only be her, it could only be her. An Ruofang was so young that she could not have escaped on her own. All the ideas must have come from An Ruochen, she was the one who did everything, and it could only be her.
An Zhifu ordered people to throw An Ruochen into a woodshed, not allowing her to eat or drink until she told the truth.
An Ruochen was lying on the dirty mud floor that night, seeing the stars through the tall little window, thinking that her good little sister had managed to escape. Someone looked after her, and now she was sitting in a carriage running to a brand new life. Qian Pei couldn’t touch her, and their father couldn’t sell her. An Ruochen smiled. The wound was painful, she was thirsty, hungry, and uncomfortable, but she couldn’t help but smile.
The next day An Zhifu arrived at the woodshed, looked coldly at his eldest daughter, and asked her again where An Ruofang was.
An Ruochen was so sick that she could barely open her eyes and couldn’t move her fingers. She knew she had a fever again. She tried her best to squeeze out only one sentence: “Father, I don’t want to die. I don’t know.”
An Zhifu threw up his sleeves and left.
At noon, an old maid came to carry An Ruochen back to her room and asked the doctor to come to treat her. She said the master had said that the eldest miss should not be allowed to die.
Afterward, Mrs. Duan came, her eyes red and swollen from crying, begging An Ruochen to tell her about her daughter’s whereabouts.
An Ruochen insisted she didn’t know. She asked Mrs. Duan instead: “Fourth Mother, if my sister came back, would you fight to the death to stop Father from marrying her into the Qian family? She is so young. She deserves to marry a good husband.”
Mrs. Duan stared at her as if she were a monster. After staring for a while, she turned her head and left.
In the evening, Mrs. Tan came and gave An Ruochen, lying on the bed, a vicious slap on the face: “You poisonous heart, you want to ruin this marriage. You think Master Qian likes Fang’er, and you bluffed Fang’er away from this marriage, but do you think you can continue to be the young lady who eats and drinks for free in this house? Your wishful thinking is wrong. Master has made a deal with Master Qian to send him two little maids, and you will still marry into the Qian House. To prevent any changes, the wedding date has been advanced, you just wait!”
An Ruochen closed her eyes and didn’t even want to look at her. The two little girls bought and sent there? The two little girls are going to be killed!
She was angry but helpless.
Big Long had left Zhonglan City on the third day counting from when he finished talking to An Ruochen at the restaurant that time. Yao Kun thought Xie Jin might be a spy of Southern Qin but struggled with the lack of evidence and had to close the case with the crime of cheating and thievery. He discussed it with Big Long. He should talk to Southern Qin about this matter, warning them that their spy had been killed by the Great Xiao. The Southern Qin should be honest and quiet, recall their spies, and not provoke them again, or Xie Jin’s fate would be shared by the Southern Qin’.
Big Long agreed with Yao Kun’s opinion. Yao Kun handed over the paperwork, while Big Long led his troops to the border. According to the information found by the spies, he went straight into the nest of bandits and eliminated two groups of them, all of whom were from Southern Qin. Big Long ordered his men to send the corpses to Southern Qin and fought against the border guards of Southern Qin across the river for several days.
Although the two countries are not at war, Big Long deployed troops and made thorough arrangements to gather information. Every place has been mapped out, and South Qin’s generals and leaders were stalked. News from spies have been sent one after another.
It was already October 17 when Big Long finished these tasks. He returned to the barracks tent and listened to the military report first. After that, he dismissed the people. Xie Gang had not left and reported to him, “Uncle Jiang sent back the news after he left the city and said no one came to do the things you arranged.”
Big Long was stunned. No one came?
“What is it? Who was coming?” With a curious face, Zong Zeqing was kicked out of the tent by Big Long.
Did she not make it? Big Long had some disbelief in his heart. That girl was cunning and resourceful. To think she didn’t make it!
“But did he stumble upon something?”
“From the 15th, the An House servants and guards went in and out in a state of panic. Seemingly looking for someone but not reporting it to the authorities. Yesterday, a doctor went in and out of the An House, saying he was treating the second concubine’s cold. The spies did not enter the An House, afraid of disturbing the An family. These days, the doorkeeper’s servants who used to talk about the gossip kept their mouths shut, not daring to say much. There has been no strange or suspicious people sneaking in. Nor have we seen Miss An leave.”
Big Long frowned. The panicked search for people and not reporting to the authorities, mean An Ruochen still managed to escape from the residence. But she did not catch up with Jiang’s caravan. Or was she robbed halfway?
Xie Gang said: “There is no difference in the city. The governor’s place is also as usual.” Xie Gang knew Big Long’s doubts and said: “The doctor only brought a medicine servant, no new faces. An House has not recruited new servants recently. The day when General left Zhonglan City, a little girl died in the An House, and the public said she killed herself because she was afraid for breaking something valuable. The spies inquired that the girl recently entered the house and was a maid in the An Ronggui’s courtyard and is unrelated to Miss An.”
Big Long asked: “What about Qian Pei? Are there any changes in the marriage of the two families?”
If the bride is missing, An Zhifu will not dare to deceive Qian Pei.
”I have not heard of this.” Xie Gang thought about it, “I’ll send someone to investigate carefully.” Since it is related to Big Long’s arrangement, it’s not a small matter.